


Mirrors and Golden Flowers

by LivingAndLearning



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Gender-Neutral Chara, Gender-Neutral Frisk, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Narrator Chara, Spoilers - Undertale Pacifist Route, Undertale Pacifist Route, some other characters are mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-20
Updated: 2017-08-20
Packaged: 2018-12-17 15:19:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11854308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LivingAndLearning/pseuds/LivingAndLearning
Summary: After breaking the barrier, Frisk decides to travel back through the Underground before leaving with their friends.





	Mirrors and Golden Flowers

Frisk thinks that perhaps it is wise to go for a walk. They are still rather disorientated from... They don't think they could explain it if their life depended on it. Chara is just as shocked, if not more so. The same flower that had been trying to kill Frisk throughout their journey in the underground had been none other than their  _brother_. Their innocent brother who had cried at the smallest of scratches. Who had laughed at their mother's bad jokes. Who had pretended to prefer cinnamon over butterscotch.

_Who had been forced into a plan he didn't want to partake in._

With that in mind, Chara just can't bring themself to be upset with Asriel. He didn't want to go through with the plan, however he likely felt he had to because he didn't want to let his adoptive sibling and best friend down. 

Chara continues mentally ranting about what a horrible friend and sibling they are until Frisk comes across the mirror in Asgore's house.

 _"Despite everything, it's still you,"_ Chara comments. They try not to think too much about theirs and Asriel's deaths too much, however, despite their best efforts, they end up pondering how Asriel reincarnated as a flower. They think back to the book Frisk read in the Librarby (misspelling intentional) about monster funerals.

_"In a monster funeral, a monster's dust is spread across their favorite items so that their essence can live on in that thing."_

When Asriel and Chara died (Chara technically for a second time,) Asriel's dust spread across the garden. One of the Golden Flower seeds that stuck to Chara's body from the surface grew there. When Asgore chose that flower to be used as a vessel for the eventual human souls he then gave that flower to Alphys. Alphys then injected that flower with determination. Therefore, the essence of Asriel was given the will to live. Of course, just because he was given the will to live, that doesn't mean he had a soul. On top of that, he had more determination than any monster in the Underground, so he was given the ability to SAVE, LOAD and RESET. No wonder why he had gone insane.

By now, Frisk had trekked through Hotland, Waterfall, and almost all of Snowdin. They are making their way to the Ruins door now. Chara knows that if Toriel had been in a hurry, the door will likely be unlocked. They were right.

The long hallway to Toriel's house feels much less intimidating than before. As Frisk walks up the stairs, Chara looks for the smallest details in the hallway to try to keep their mind concentrated on other things.

Frisk walked around the house. They seem a bit off. They're frowning slightly with concern in their eyes.

 _"What's wrong, Frisk?"_  Chara asks courteously.

"..."

For a long moment, Frisk doesn't say anything. They're like that. Chara waits patiently, almost thinking that Frisk hasn't heard them, when they reply, "Chara... are you alright?"

It was just like Frisk to worry about everybody but themself. They seem to always put the needs of others before taking care of themself. Chara thinks that their a little too empathetic.

 _"I'm fine. Just thinking about Asriel... and how awful a person I really am,"_  Chara replies, sorrowfully.

"...You're not an awful person, Chara. If you were an awful person, you wouldn't have helped me through the Underground. Nor would you have helped keep me alive... when I fought your brother..." Frisk finishes with hesitation. They really are too innocent.

Chara sighs mentally, although Frisk did make them feel a little better. Then they add,  _"Don't worry about me, Frisk."_

Frisk frowns a bit more, then decides to drop the subject. They view a few more things in the house, including the typha, the bed, the bucket of snails, and so on, with Chara's commentary. Before leaving, they look into the mirror in the small, tidy house in the ruins one last time.

_"Still just you, Frisk."_

Frisk gives a small smile, noticing that Chara's voice doesn't sound quite as upset. With that, Frisk leaves the house and continues into the Ruins. They talk to several Froggits, Chara helping to translate dialogue. It takes a while of living with monsters to be able to understand some of them. Frisk hasn't been around the Froggits long enough to understand their language of ribbits, croaks and (strangely enough) meows.

Frisk also passes a sentient rock. The same one that gave them a  _rock-_ hard time. Frisk tries to keep a straight face at Chara's mental pun. Emphasis on tries. They finally managed to suppress their fits of laugher after walking through two more rooms. A minute later and they're talking to another Froggit.

After chatting to the Froggit (or rather, listening, because Frisk doesn't talk much,) they move on. Chara didn't know that when Frisk had wanted to walk back, they wanted to walk all the way back. They now realize it. They begin to feel dread at the thought of going to the place that their body had been buried. However, this was what Frisk wants, so they try to hide their emotions.

They enter the Ruins entrance. Crisp, crimson leaves cover part of the floor. The dread grows stronger. Frisk continues walking until they reach the room with Golden Flowers. A figure stood facing the flowers. The way the figure's head almost hung, they seemed almost mournful. Frisk treads toward the figure, about to either tap their shoulder or say something. The figure turns his head before Frisk can do anything.

"Don't worry about me, someone has to take care of these flowers," Asriel says before facing the flowers again.

Frisk taps his shoulder softly.

"Frisk, please leave me alone. I can't come back, I just can't. OK?," he mutters, eyes and tone of voice sad.

 _"Asriel..."_  Chara whispers. Asriel seems to flinch slightly.

Frisk taps his shoulder again.

"I don't want to break their hearts all over again. It's better if they never see me."

Frisk proceeds to tap his shoulder.

"...why are you still here? Are you trying to keep me company?"

Frisk nods.

"Frisk..." Asriel looks up slightly, making his dark brown eyes more visible.

"..." Silence for a moment. Then, "Hey,"

"Let me ask you a question. Frisk... Why did you come here? Everyone knows the legend, right...? 'Travellers who climb Mt. Ebott are said to disappear.'"

"..." Silence again.

"Frisk. Why would you ever climb a mountain like that? Was it foolishness? Was it fate? Was it... Because you...? Well. Only you know the answer, don't you...?"

Asriel faces the flowers again, then looks back.

"I know why Chara climbed the mountain. It wasn't for a very happy reason. Frisk. I'll be honest with you, Chara hated humanity. Why they did, they never talked about it. But they felt very strongly about that."

 _"Well, I did, before you came along, Frisk,"_  Chara whispers quietly. Asriel didn't flinch this time. Frisk just barely heard it. They smiled slightly.

Asriel turns to the flower bed, then back to Frisk again.

"Frisk...  You really ARE different from Chara. In fact, though you have similar, uh, fashion choices, I don't know why I acted like you were the same person. Maybe... The truth is... Chara wasn't really the greatest person. While, Frisk... You're the type of friend I wish I always had. So maybe I was kind of projecting a little bit there. Let's be honest, I did some weird stuff as a flower," Asriel monologues and turns back to the Golden Flowers, illuminated by whatever sunlight came in through the hole on the cave ceiling.

Chara feels like they just swallowed buttercups again. They also feel like they deserve that. Frisk mentally argues against that.

Asriel faces Frisk again.

"There's one last thing I feel like I should tell you. Frisk, when Chara and I combined our SOULs together... The control over our body was actually split between us. They were the one that picked up their own empty body. And then, when we got to the village... They were the one that wanted to..."

He pauses for another moment, then finishes the sentence, "...to use our full power. I was the one that resisted. And then, because of me, we... Well, that's why I ended up a flower. Frisk... This whole time I've blamed myself for that decision. That's why I adopted that horrible view of the world 'Kill or be killed.' But now... after meeting you... Frisk, I don't regret that decision anymore. I did the right thing. If I killed those humans... We would have had to wage war against all of humanity. And in the end, everyone went free, right? I still feel kind of sad at how long it took... So maybe it wasn't a perfect decision. But you can't regret hard choices your entire life, right? Well, not that I have much a life left. But that's besides the point."

Asriel turns back to the flowers, then to Frisk yet again.

"Frisk, thank you for listening to me. You should really go be with your friends now, OK? Oh, and, please. In the future, if you uh, see me... Don't think of it as me, OK? I just want you to remember me like this. Someone that was your friend for a little while. Oh, and Frisk... Be careful in the outside world, OK? Despite what everyone thinks, it's not as nice as it is here. There are a lot of Floweys out there. And not everything can be resolved by just being nice. Frisk... Don't kill, and don't be killed, alright? That's the best you can strive for. Well, see you," Asriel ends.

Frisk taps his shoulder one last time.

"Frisk... Don't you have anything better to do?"

It was a rhetorical question, however it was asked with modesty. Frisk understands. They begin to saunter away, definitely in no hurry to leave a friend behind. They know that no matter how much they plead, they won't get Asriel to come with them. Not now, not like this. With one last sad, perhaps almost desperate glance at Asriel behind them, they leave.

Chara lags behind slightly. They look at the small goat-like monster standing solemnly beside their grave. They have one more thing they need to do that they weren't able to do before. They drift toward Asriel and wrap their pale, translucent arms around him and mutter into one of his ears,

_"Goodbye, Asriel."_

Asriel stares at the bed of Golden Flowers, not for the first time today, almost expecting Frisk to try to get him to come with them. Of course he would of said no, and for multiple reasons. What he didn't expect, however, were the ghost of arms hugging him. Even though he didn't expect it, he smiles anyway. His left ear picks up on a voice he thinks he heard earlier. He just barely hears the words. About a minute or so later, he feels the strange presence stop hugging him. Only now does he reply, right before the presence had left the room to follow their companion.

"Goodbye, Chara."

**Author's Note:**

> Huh. My first fan fiction. Anyway, this has been on my mind for quite some time, so I decided to actually write down what's on my mind for once. I don't know whether I should rate this for general audiences or teen and up. I didn't expect this fanfic to go into any detail of Chara and Asriel's deaths. I guess I'll just leave hints in the tags for now. With that being said, thanks for reading.


End file.
